Donald Joralemon is professor of anthropology at Smith College. He received his BA from Oberlin College (1974) and his MA and PhD from the University of California, Los Angeles (1983). He is the author of Exploring Medical Anthropology (1999, third edition 2010) and the coauthor (with Douglas Sharon) of Sorcery and Shamanism: Curanderos and Clients in Northern Peru (1993). Among his published articles on Peruvian shamanism is the widely cited essay, “The Selling of the Shaman and the Problem of Informant Legitimacy” (Journal of Anthropological Research, 1990). His present work focuses on the anthropology of organ transplantation and medical ethics.

This widely adopted text is a concise and engaging introduction to the field that presents competing theoretical perspectives in a balanced fashion, highlighting points of conflict and convergence. Written in an accessible, jargon-free language, Exploring Medical Anthropology,s concise length leaves room for instructors to supplement it with monographs of their own choosing. Concrete cases and the author,s personal research experiences are utilized to explain some of the discipline,s most important insights; such as that biology and culture matter equally in the human experience of disease and that medical anthropology can help to alleviate human suffering. An extensive glossary facilitates student learning of concepts and terms, while a list of suggested readings at the end of each chapter and an extensive bibliography encourage further exploration.